Highlights

He said the names were changed to divert attention from pressing issues

BJP justified changing names across UP for correcting distortions

Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Saturday launched a scathing attack on his political ally BJP for its name change spree. He has asked the BJP to change names of its Muslim leaders before changing the names of different towns and places.

Mr Rajbhar, chief of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, said, "BJP changed the names of Mughalsarai and Faizabad. They say they were named after the Mughals. They have a national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohsin Raza - three Muslim faces of the BJP. They should change their names first."

He said that the names of places were changed just to divert attention of the backward and oppressed people from the issues, which concern them. "This is all a drama to distract the backward and oppressed people whenever they raise their voices for their rights. No one else has given the things which Muslims have given. Should we throw away the GT Road? Who built the Red Fort? Who built the Taj Mahal," he asked.

Mr Rajbhar also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre for demonetisation. "What was the use of demonetisation if all the money came back to the Reserve Bank of India? If they want to end corruption, then they should illegalise the use of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes," he said.

Earlier, Mr Adityanath also renamed Allahabad to Prayagraj. Prior to that it also renamed the Mughalsarai Railway station, another historic spot, to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya junction.

In August this year, the UP government had sent a request to the centre to rename the airports in Agra, Bareilly and Kanpur. According to reports, the proposal is to rename the Agra airport after Jan Sangh founder Deen Dayal Upadhyay.

The ruling BJP has justified the name changes across Uttar Pradesh saying they are merely restoring older names and correcting historical distortions.